Following on from the excellent 'Remembrance of the Daleks', 'The Happiness Patrol' features Sylvester McCoy still on top form, and the Doctor here has too many good lines to list. One glorious moment sees him turning the questions back on the questioner, Trevor Sigma, while another is his confrontation with two guards (a classic Who moment). There are many more good moments, and only two lapses into bad-McCoy territory: the first, at the end of episode one, where McCoy really doesn't manage to pull off a plausible reaction to the Kandy Man's threat; and the second, a moment where he tries to sing the blues, and just looks silly. The latter, however, is saved by the context of the scene, where atmospheric and subtle support is given by Richard D. Sharp, playing Earl Sigma, a wandering medical student, who happens to be an ace player of the blues harmonica.

The score of 'The Happiness Patrol' is, of course, one its very best traits. Layered on top of the usual incidental music is a carefully judged combination of blues guitar and harmonica playing. In tune with the score is the set design, mixing together (with no lack of irony) the hard-edged industrial paintings of Fernand Leger, imagery from Lang's 'Metropolis', and the colour pallete of a children's sweet packet. Of course, as we know, good set design in 1980s Doctor Who stories was often ruined by boring, flat lighting. Pleasingly, that is not the case here. Moody and atmospheric film-noir (albeit full-colour-film-noir) lighting of the street and pipe scenes makes for one of the best looking Doctor Who stories ever made. One of the scenes to benefit vastly is the cliff-hanger to episode two. From a shot of a member of the happiness painting 'RIP' (in pink) onto an execution poster, the camera slowly pans to focus on the Doctor, eyes in shadow, looking part-anxious, part-highly-dangerous toppler of evil regimes; the shot is held for a second or two, and then the music surges in. A cliff-hanger to beat all cliff-hangers. 

Watching 'The Happiness Patrol' now, almost 15 years after it was originally broadcast, what stands out is the cleverness of it all. The evidence indicates that a lot of work, on several levels, went into constructing a story often accused of being poorly made and tacky. It may have had a low budget, but it doesn't suffer from it; and any 'tackiness' is clearly ironic, working within the context of the narrative. There are occasional moments when a detail of the production makes you wonder if they couldn't have thought things through a bit more, and occasionally the editing is over-zealous, cutting a scene a little too short, and lessening the effect of a punchline or a dramatic speech. But these are minor problems, and they do little to spoil the enjoyment of a thoroughly ambitious and engaging Doctor Who serial.

The story's opening is beautifully dark, with a suitably disturbing introduction to one of the Doctor's boldest stories. The period of the story is set efficiently, and the introduction of the Doctor and Ace shows off the wonderful rapport that has developed between both the characters and the actors. The Doctor's line, 'It's a surprise,' in reference to the reason for their visit, seems almost cruel on a repeated viewing, evidence of the Doctor's evolution, an overall theme of the story, into someone, or something, darker; less predictable.

The Doctor and Ace seem to 'slide' into the story, and are almost too readily accepted with no question from the players, but this ultimately only reinforces the themes developed later in the story and is typical of the show's era. The introduction of Nimrod is our first true sign that all is not as it should be, besides the glowing purple eyes which merely softened the impact without ever being adequately explained. Despite events spiralling dangerously, the Doctor now takes an admirable degree of control over the situation. It is perhaps of no coincidence that a character by that very name appears later in the story. The character of Josiah Smith,though, is a truly wonderful creation of style, with his shades, dust and white gloves, combined with substance, in his references to the moth's need to evolve due to industrial influence, again introducing the theme of evolution.

The story feels as if a great debt is owed to 'Sapphire and Steel' in as much as it feels wonderfully claustrophobic, and not least for the shots of Redvers strapped into a straightjacket whilst light pours from the snuffbox. The scripting also shines, as shown in the exchange between Ace and the Doctor as the girl realises that her protector has deceived her; but it is the Doctor's revelation that he loathes bus stations, unrequited love, cruelty and tyranny that simply explains the Doctor for who he is.

The story is filmed with a certain flair including some beautiful juxtaposition of imagery, such as the Reverend being drugged whilst Josiah's niece plays the piano, for example; the song predicting the Reverend's final fate.

There follows an example of one this era's laudable 'reality slaps', where Ace reveals how her friend's flat was firebombed, causing Ace to no longer care. Beside being dramatic and anchoring the fantastic in a harsh reality, these references served the writers of Virgin's 'New Adventures' extraordinarily well. 

Of pure joy is the knowing line, 'Oh don't worry, I always leave things to the last moment.' It serves not only as a reference to the way the Doctor always appeared to deal with the problem in 'the nick of time', but also emphasises the way the Doctor has again taken control of the situation. This becomes a recurring theme in this era, introducing the concept of the Doctor as a controller, rather than simply being caught up in a chain of events. It is something of a shame that McCoy's earlier stories put so many viewers off 'Doctor Who' , resulting in many people not witnessing the show's gradual transformation into something darker, more adult; a show beginning to show itself more than worthy of tackling the concerns of the final part of the millennium.

The introduction of the Policeman quietly emphasises the Doctor's power and also carries an echo of characters from earlier Victorian stories in his true old-fashioned perspective, along with the racist attitudes.

The Doctor reminds us of two things with his line, 'You must excuse me, things are getting out of control'; that he does exert some form of control over the proceedings but that his control is not perfect. This has the effect of disquieting the viewer and adds to the reinvented mysterious nature the Doctor has been acquiring, as events spiral out of control once more. The disturbing concept of the Doctor directly meddling and then losing control is never more emphasised than when Light casually destroys the maid under Josiah's control.

We learn more of Ace's past as her character is fleshed out further, just before a delightfully creepy yet somewhat kitsch sequence which leads to an equally delightful mid-episode cliffhanger as the now darkened Gwen takes advantage of Ace's momentary weakness. The following action sequences admittedly let the story down, but to err is to leave one wanting more. There is a wonderful nod to the now late Douglas Adams, as the Doctor, and the script, regain control, culminating in the excising of Ace's ghosts.

I don’t, on the whole, agonize over the fact that there are missing episodes of Doctor Who. Obviously, I would prefer it if the entire series existed in the archives and on those rare occasions when an episode or even, in the case of ‘The Tomb of the Cybermen’, and entire story is recovered, but I accept that most of the missing episodes were junked, don’t exist, and probably won’t be recovered. The reason that I’m so philosophical about this is that all of the missing episodes survive as audios, which frankly I’m enormously grateful for; there are not, insofar as I am aware, audio recordings of the missing Ian Hendry Avengers episodes, or the missing episodes of Doomwatch, or the last four episodes of The Quatermass Experiment, or any of A For Andromeda or Target Luna. Bearing this in mind, I consider myself as a Doctor Who fan to be quite lucky, especially as many of the black and white stories work quite well as audio dramas. And then I listen to ‘The Web of Fear’ and become enraged. 

‘The Web of Fear’ suffers on audio more than most missing Troughton stories, because some of the atmosphere is lost. This is evident from the surviving episode one, which at least sets the scene for the remainder of the story. There are two key points at which ‘The Web of Fear’ really suffers from the lack of visuals, and these are the death of Captain Knight and the massacre of Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart’s men, the latter in particular a lengthy and dramatic sounding sequence in which the actors playing the soldiers scream horribly accompanied by an impressive and foreboding instrumental score and really make me wish I could see the attacking Yetis. Nevertheless, I am grateful that ‘The Web of Fear’ exists in some form, because it continues the high standard of Season Five. 

‘The Web of Fear’ is the quintessential base under siege story, with the base in question being the army headquarters. But this not just a base under siege story; in ‘The Abominable Snowmen’ and ‘The Ice Warriors’, the barren and icy exteriors contrasted with the seemingly safe haven provided by the Det-Sen monastery and the Ice Base to make them seem welcoming, whereas here, the base feels like a prison, a claustrophobic last bastion against the encroaching web and the marauding Yetis. The entire story has a feeling of claustrophobia thanks to its tunnel-bound setting; even when the Doctor and his friends leave headquarters, they are generally unable to leave the Underground tunnels, which are increasingly cut off by the web. It is this claustrophobia that enhances the suspense of ‘The Web of Fear’ to truly impressive levels; the humans have no way of escape, and nowhere besides the base to retreat to. By the end of episode five, even the headquarters is consumed by the web. Then there is the dwindling supporting cast, as soldiers are killed by either web or Yeti, and of course the increasing paranoia as it becomes clear that one of them is a traitor. Episode one sets the scene well; Travers’ visit to Silverstein’s collection is filled with foreboding, and this is helped by the impressive incidental score sampled from mad composer Bela Bartok (and used in the previous story, also to great effect. And The Shining too, for that matter). It becomes obvious almost immediately that the immobile Yeti is going to come to life once more and kill Silverstein, leaving only the question of when; with Travers and his daughter gone, the familiar beeping of the control sphere heralds the reawakening of the Yeti and a terrified Silverstein’s death). Incidentally, the transformation of the Yeti is rather effective and is nice touch; since the production team decided to redesign them to make them less cute, it is nice to note that they actually acknowledged this change on screen. It also serves to accentuate the Yeti’s reactivation, somehow helping to make the entire sequence both sudden and shocking. Following this, the scenes of the TARDIS entombed by the web in space are also effective, and rather sinister. This marks the only the second time that the TARDIS has been interfered with in flight, the first being ‘The Web Planet’, and it is demonstrates the power of the Intelligence. Following this, the TARDIS arrival in the Underground allows for further foreboding, as the Doctor, Jamie and Victoria find the web covered corpse of the old newspaper vendor, and the true extent of the threat to London slowly becomes apparent. 

The Yetis themselves work better here than they did in ‘The Abominable Snowmen’, which is frankly rather impressive given the effectiveness of that story. Partly this is because of the redesign, which makes them sleeker and less cuddly, but mostly it’s because they roar and most importantly because they are in the London Underground. Jon Pertwee rather famously claimed that there is nothing more frightening than coming home and finding a Yeti sitting on your toilet in Tooting Beck; clearly, the man was outrageously exaggerating since it would be far more terrifying to find for example a heavily-armed lunatic sitting on one’s toilet than a zoological curiosity, but the argument does hold that the Yeti are more effective here due to their incongruity. In addition, whilst most of this story is studio bound, the impressive recreation of the distinctive tunnels of the London Underground recaptures some of the effect of seeing the Daleks glide around London landmarks in ‘The Dalek Invasion of Earth’. ‘The Web of Fear’ is the first Doctor Who story to show such an invasion in a contemporary setting, but of course not the last (and no, I’m not including the sight of one War Machine at a time lumbering unconvincingly around London). The roar of the attacking Yetis is surprisingly effective, and is memorably punctuated by the screams of their victims on several occasions. Another reason that the Yetis seem more dangerous here is that they are seen to kill far more people than in ‘The Abominable Snowmen’, where the Intelligence seemed more concerned with frightening the Monks aware rather than slaughtering them. In addition, they are seldom inactive; in ‘The Abominable Snowmen’, Jamie and the Monks accidentally deactivated one and later on the Doctor and Jamie struggled to stop a control sphere reaching its Yeti, whereas here this is never the case after the scene in Silverstein’s collection. When the Yetis do emerge out of the darkness, they nearly always kill or capture someone. The web guns are also worth mentioning, since they give the robot Yetis an effective line of defence against explosives and also provide and effective visual image as they emerge onto the platform in episode one brandishing weapons.

The Intelligence is less effective here than in its dйbut, due I think to the vocal talents of the actors involved. In ‘The Abominable Snowmen’, the Intelligence voice was key to its success and due entirely to Wolfe Morris’s acting skills. Here, the Intelligence uses different pawns and the effect is less impressive. Whilst I like Jack Watling as Travers, when Travers is possessed by the Intelligence he sounds more asthmatic than sinister. Jack Woolgar is better as the possessed Staff Sgt, Arnold, especially since he sounds considerably different when he’s not under the Intelligence’s control, and he does manage to sound quite chilling, but he still isn’t as good as Morris was at conveying the entity’s sheer evil. In some respects, the script doesn’t help; the revelation that the object of the Intelligence’s invasion is actually the Doctor is a good one, and is to be congratulated for making this story more than just a retread of the Intelligence’s plans in Tibet, but once it has taken Victoria hostage it starts to gloat and sound smug, which makes it seem less alien, and thus less threatening, than in its debut. Despite this, it still works well enough as a villain however. The web, presumably the equivalent of the shapeless form that it was adopting in ‘The Abominable Snowmen’, works well and the seems far more unstoppable at times than even the Yetis, as it slowly fills the tunnels, hemming the humans in and also isolating the Doctor from his TARDIS. The ending is perhaps too similar to the ending of ‘The Abominable Snowmen’, with the Intelligence defeated by having its equipment blown up, but the twist that this prevents the Doctor from defeating it utterly is quite nice. In addition, because of the higher body count in this story, there is less of a celebratory feel once the Intelligence is defeated; Padmasambhava had been kept alive like a zombie in ‘The Abominable Snowmen’, and his death gave the impression that he had found the release that he wanted, whereas here the blackened corpse of Arnold is far grimmer testimony to the misery wrought by the Intelligence. 

There are more prominent characters here than in ‘The Abominable Snowmen’, but Lincoln and Haisman prove able to cope with the challenges this presents, giving every character, no matter how minor, distinct characterisation. Jack Watling makes a welcome return as Professor Travers, now having become the living embodiment of “irascible”. His portrayal of Travers as a grumpy, eccentric scientist is endearing rather than distracting, and provides a brief but welcome moment of comic relief in episode one, when he deals with the obnoxious Chorley. Tina Packer as Travers’ daughter is an attempt to portray a strong female character and should be applauded as such; she plays the part well, and does get to deliver a withering riposte to Knight’s patronizing enquiry of “what’s a girl like you doing in a place like this?”, but ultimately she is reduced to the role of either her Father’s or the Doctor’s assistant, which rather spoils the effect. The other supporting characters all work well, which is essential given the increasing “whodunit” aspect as it becomes clear that one of them is a traitor (Chorley is an obvious red-herring, whereas Arnold always seems too reliable to possibly be the traitor, which keeps the viewer guessing nicely). Special mention must go to two other characters however: Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart and Private Evans. Lethbridge-Stewart immediately makes an impact, thanks to his commanding presence, coupled with a charisma that Courtney’s previous Doctor Who character, the grim Bret Vyon, lacked. He is particularly impressive due to his tendency to lead by example, leading his men into a battle with the Yetis, which as it happens only he survives. He is equally brave when he agrees to help Jamie find Victoria in episode five, a mission that he suspects to be both futile and potentially suicidal, but which he undertakes in preference to doing nothing. He also noticeably starts to develop a rapport with the Doctor, despite the mutual distrust caused by the knowledge that someone is betraying them to the Intelligence, and it could be either one of them. Private Evans is rather different character, in that he is portrayed as a coward. The character’s strength however is that he is a realistic coward; his plaintive suggestion that they hand over the Doctor to the Intelligence as requested rings with terrified sincerity and is motivated purely by absolute fear, something the Doctor clearly realises as he gently promises to give himself up to save them if no other alternative presents itself. It is interesting that Evans contrasts so sharply with Chorley, also terrified but thoroughly odious, and is testament to the basic fact that Evans is really rather likeable. Whereas Chorley blusters when Knight sarcastically invites him along on a mission into the tunnels, Evans is much more frank when Jamie asks him why he came back to join him and he shamefacedly admits that he couldn’t get out through the locked gates. 

Troughton is as ever at his finest here, and as in Haisman and Lincoln’s previous script, he is determined to defeat the menace threatening London as soon as he becomes aware of it. In some ways, he’s even more central to the plot than usual, since he is the Intelligence’s objective. Although he seems at times to be vaguely flattered by this, he also quickly takes responsibility for the situation, as noted agreeing to give himself up the Intelligence to save lives. His final plan to defeat the Intelligence by turning the tables on it and draining it of knowledge instead of letting it drain him is seemingly a last minute plan; whilst he is probably confident that he will think of something based on enormous past experience of tight corners, his determination to walk into danger to spare others is always commendable. The fact that his frustration at having his plan to defeat the Intelligence once and for all inadvertently sabotaged by Jamie quickly evaporates in light of the lavish praise heaped on him by his companions at the end is a typically charming moment and serves to lift the atmosphere after Lethbridge-Stewart and the others grimly discuss the death toll caused by the Yetis. Jamie is once more on form as well, having been sidelined for the latter half of ‘The Enemy of the World’. His headstrong bravery is at its most evident, as he goes off with only Evans for company to try and find the Doctor, and stands his ground as web and Yeti approach in an unsuccessful attempt to defeat the Intelligence early on by destroying a glass pyramid similar to that seen in the Det-Sen monastery. Later, as noted, his determination to try and save Victoria manages to inspire an increasingly disillusioned Lethbridge-Stewart to action. Ironically, it is this headstrong streak that foils the Doctor’s plan in episode six, as Jamie leaps into action, “rescuing” the Doctor in defiance of his instructions, which results in the Intelligence’s short term defeat but leaves it floating in space as a potential future threat. Finally, Victoria’s brief reprieve from constant terror in the previous story ends, as she is taken prisoner by the mind-controlled Travers, taunted by the Intelligence, and terrified by her Yeti guard. Here more than in any story since ‘The Evil of the Daleks’, she is surrounded by death and fear, which leads neatly into her final story. 

Overall, ‘The Web of Fear’ is yet another in a string of excellent stories, and is a highly effective use of the base-under-siege scenario.

I first acquired video technology in 1995, on a sunday morning. That afternoon I went to town and bought Resurrection of the Daleks, which I had long been wanting to do. This then was not only the first Dr Who video I ever bought, but the first video full stop. 

Watching it, I felt the same buzz of pleasure and excitement as I had back in 1984 when Resurrection was first aired. This is quite simply my favourite Dr Who story of all time. After the plain old silly Destiny of the Daleks some years previously, wherein the Daleks shouted a lot but were about as menacing as tins of corned beef, Resurrection was summat else again. These Daleks were vicious, menacing killers; behaving exactly as Daleks are supposed to but rarely do. They were also wonderfully irrational: dropping everything (one imagines) to go halfway across the galaxy to rescue Davros, simply to serve their own ends, and then deciding to exterminate him anyway. There is an extremely vague plan to invade Earth and an even vaguer one to depopulate Gallifrey's time lord population, but this is all good. If the Daleks here were seen as boringly logical and killing only one or two people (as portrayed many times in the past) then they would just be dull. 

The gradual massacre of the Space Station personnel, the use of chemical gas, the mutant Dalek scuttling around the warehouse, the Daleks having to rely (at first) on human Troopers, the shock revelation of the Dalek agent...I could go on and on but will instead confine myself to two extra points. 

First, Davros. This time I found the portrayal of him even better than in Genesis. Then, he was a cold, ruthless scientist who ranted occasionally. Now, a thousand and ninety years later (or whatever) he is utterly obsessed with revenge with his own Daleks, as willing to kill them as they are to kill him. His ability to defend himself now, and his shocked reaction to the Daleks' defeat and having to use human soldiers, are lasting memories for me. 

Then there is Lytton, a wonderfully compelling, ruthless character. Right from the off he is threatened with extermination by the Supreme Dalek, he clearly is less than willing to be working for them and yet he performs his duty with chilling efficiency. I think Lytton rates as the second best human baddie in the entire series ('second' best? Well, no one can beat the War Lord!). I think his becoming a good, or at least less bad, guy in Attack of the Cybermen to be rather inappropriate. A question though, if all this happened to the duplicate Lytton, is there a real one knocking about somewhere? 

So, a definite ten out of ten here. Resurrection is what Earthshock could have been like if all the supporting cast had been killed off. It increases the realism, the excitement. I'm glad this story went as far as it did, and if Sylvester McCoy and Pantomime were to threaten the show a few years down the line, then it came out just in time.

I was initially rather disappointed with this story when it first was on television, but with hindsight now regard it as one of the true classics of its time. The problem was that I was expecting another Logopolis type story, with a dramatic threat-to-the-universe type scenario as befitting a Doctor's regeneration tale. This rather sordid gun-running drama didn't, to me, seem really worthy to be the Fifth Doctor's final adventure; not for a Doctor who had been back to Event One, saved the universe on Terminus, faced Omega again, etc. Also, I was really, really wanting an old monster to appear for this final story - I love stories with old monsters so rather enjoyed Peter Davison's run - but there wasn't one. We saw tantalising glimpses of Sharaz Jek in part one - close ups of his mouth, eyes etc, and I was hoping that this would be some old foe from the Doctor's past, but alas.

However, what we are left with is still an action filled, tense and extremely exciting tale. I loved the fact that machine pistols were used by everyone and not some space laser guns; it made the thing more realistic and gritty. The characters were uniformly excellant - Jek, Chellack, Morgus, Stotz. Some of them were wonderfully evil throughout whilst others had evil more or less thrust upon them by being in a difficult situation at a difficult time. I particularly liked Salateen who, while being ruthless at least had a sense of fair play - he didn't do anything bad without a reason and also didn't hog all the credit for his and Peri's escape from Jek's headquarters. He was fair minded but ended up just as dead as everyone else.

All the episode endings were superb but the ending of episode one was a bit flat in comparison - we see a panel slide open in the back of the Doctor and Peri's cell moments before they are led to the firing squad, so this rather spoils things as we know that the doctor and peri do not face certain death. We don't yet know about Jek's ability to create replicas, but we now know that SOMETHING happened. If we hadn't seen that panel open beforehand the ending would have been much more spectacular, but as it is the suspense is spoiled somewhat.

Then, after a load of treachery, explosions, shootings and death, the Doctor regenerates after a typical act of noble sacrifice - beware of Trions carrying beautiful half-drowned American girls into one's Tardis the moment one's back is turned is I suppose the moral - but regenerates into what? Who is this new persona who is rather sharp with the bewildered Peri at the story's closing moments? That, as we all know, is another story.....

Season twenty-two can be a difficult season to watch. The tackiness, the arrogant Doctor, and the annoying companion have made many fans dislike the season and its Doctor. Of late there has been a kind of reevaluation of the era thanks to the excellent Sixth Doctor audios produced by Big Finish. I have always had a soft spot for the braggart in the clown coat. One of my first experiences with Doctor Who was watching Attack of the Cybermen. I continue to love that serial even though I recognize its not high art. My favorite Sixth Doctor story (and probably yours too according to the OG polls) is Revelation of the Daleks. 

The serial has the distinction of probably being the strangest Dalek story to date. The story turns the typical “covert alien invasion” plot into a dark horror comedy. Davros has taken control of a galactic funeral parlor, intent on using corpses as Dalek building materials. The Doctor and Peri arrive on the planet because Professor Stengos, a friend of the Doctor’s, has died. What the Doctor doesn’t know is that Stengos has been transformed into a Dalek.

The scene where we are shown Stengos remains one of the most disturbing images in the show’s history. He is encased in a glass Dalek shell, his body gone. His head is barely recognizable as human. His voice alternates between human and Dalek. This scene is one of the key points in the serial and manages to make the Daleks scary again.

Davros is also at his most terrifying. Terry Molloy outshines even Michael Wisher (Genesis of the Daleks) in the role. Revelation of the Daleks features Davros at his most cunning and evil. This serial not only shows Davros as a mad scientist, but as a master manipulator. The scenes between him and the fawning Tasambeker feature some of the finest villainy in all of Doctor Who. 

The human cast is also noteworthy. A criticism that can be laid against the story is the fact that the Doctor and Peri are only accessories to the story. This does not stop Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant from giving fine performances. Both characters have their less likable attributes toned down for this story. In Revelation of the Daleks, Colin Baker gives one of his most noble portrayals of the Doctor. The supporting cast, however, are the real stars. Clive Swift dons an orange toupee for the role Jobel, the sleazy chief mortician. His character is human, but his portrayal of Jobel is as creepy as Terry Molloy’s Davros. The same goes for Jenny Tomasin as Tasambeker. She endows the character with much pathos and feeling. William Gaunt as the mercenary Orcini is another highlight. His performance brings life to the somewhat stereotypical character. Also of note is Alexei Sayle (The Young Ones) as the somewhat annoying DJ to the dead. All in all, Revelation of the Daleks has one of the greatest casts of any 1980’s Doctor Who story. 

The audacity of the story might take some aback. Eric Saward’s scripts are known for their viciousness. It wasn’t till the second viewing that I fully appreciated the story. Revelation of the Daleks was the final story of Season 22 which is a shame because they seemed to have just gotten the feel of the era right. In this serial the shows makers finally managed to find the right balance of gaudiness, gruesomeness, and drama. Season 23 was a good season, but none of the stories seemed to have the quality of this serial.

Revelation of the Daleks is one of the Doctor’s quirkiest adventures. It’s an important serial because it showed how Sixth Doctor stories could actually be good. It also made the Doctor’s arch enemies scary again. The story stands as an excellent story in a somewhat questionable era